BioBlitz uncovers plant, animal species at Saguaro National Park

BioBlitz

Dr. William R. Miller, an assistant professor of biology at
Baker University in Kansas, describes the new species of
tardigrades, also known as a "water bears," that were found during
this year's BioBlitz at Saguaro National Park. Tardigrades, which
live in moss and lichen, are dot-sized and resemble a
caterpillar.

Ten-year-old Drake Patton sat in front of the sterile hood,
listening to instructions from Dr. A. Elizabeth Arnold and her
students.

Arnold, an associate professor at the University of Arizona's
School of Plant Sciences, warned Drake to make sure his gloves
didn't have any ethanol on them because it's flammable.

"Let's just get some more gloves," said Drake, a Bisbee
fifth-grader participating in activities during Saguaro National
Park's BioBlitz, a 24-hour species count that took place Oct. 21-22
at the park's Tucson Mountain District in the west and Rincon
Mountain District east of Tucson.

More than 2,000 schoolchildren, 1,300 members of the general
public and 170 scientists took part in the BioBlitz, and at the end
of the 24-hour period, 859 plant and animal species had been
counted.

A Biodiversity Festival also took place Friday and Saturday at
the park's Tucson Mountain District. In the science tent, Drake,
wearing fresh gloves, reached into the hood and sterilized a pair
of forceps by dipping them in ethanol and then holding them over a
flame. Next he used the forceps to place small plant samples into
culture tubes that contained sugars, which would help any fungi
present to grow.

"I've never done anything like this before," Drake said about
the process.

Drake was learning about Arnold's research involving fungal
endophytes, fungi that grow within healthy plant tissue.

"These are fungi that don't cause disease, and they often will
help the host plant," Arnold said. "They can protect the host
plants against drought, salinity of soil, pathogen attack or damage
by animals that would otherwise eat the plant tissue."

Darla Sidles, superintendent of Saguaro National Park, said the
goal of the blitz and festival was "to get the community of Tucson
engaged with scientists and learning about understanding and
appreciating biodiversity. I think we did that."

The results from the species count will be published in National
Geographic Society and National Park Service databases. The two
organizations have planned a BioBlitz at a different park in the
United States for each of the 10 years leading up to the National
Park Service's centennial in 2016. The BioBlitz at Saguaro National
Park was the fifth one.

Sidles said that although the BioBlitz at Saguaro National Park
is officially over, a great amount of research is just beginning.
It will most likely take more than a year to identify all of the
species collected in the 24 hours, she added.

"We use it as more information to learn about the interactions
of all the species in the desert," she said.

Natasha Kline, a biologist at Saguaro National Park, said staff
members had already done inventories of the larger plants and
animals in the park, but they were unaware of some of the smaller
things found in the BioBlitz.

"Sometimes you lose things without ever knowing you had them,"
she said.

The BioBlitz allowed the park staff to create relationships with
people who can help to identify the more obscure species within the
park, Kline said.

"The first thing to do is inventory and to know all that you
have, and then you can start understanding what issues might impact
them," she said.

One of the species living in Saguaro National Park that the
staff did not know about is tardigrades, also known as "water
bears." Dr. William R. Miller, an assistant professor of biology at
Baker University in Kansas, has attended all of the BioBlitzes in
search of the tardigrades he studies.

Tardigrades, which live in moss and lichen, are dot-sized and
resemble a caterpillar.

"They are biologically phenomenally significant because they do
things other animals can't," he said.

One of their unique abilities is drying up and suspending
metabolic activities if there is not enough water in the
environment and then coming back to an active state when water is
available, which is known as cryptobiosis.

In 2007, tardigrades in their cryptobiotic state became the
first multicelled animals to survive outer space, including
exposure to cosmic radiation, extreme temperatures and the vacuum
of space.

Until Miller came to Saguaro National Park for the BioBlitz, no
one had ever searched for them there.

"When you're looking at the biodiversity of an area, this fills
in the web of life," he said. "It's part of the ecological equation
of a place."

Drake, who had fun with his hands-on research experience, got
permission from Arnold to take the five samples he prepared home
with him. Arnold instructed him to keep the samples sealed and out
of direct sunlight.

"I'm going to see if they grow any fungi," he said.

Arnold said she'd never had a fifth-grader in her research
before, and she praised him for his work.